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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

A Beginner's Guide to Korean Makeup

Let's continue to laugh about my shallow venture into the world of makeup! Despite owning a sizable amount of "products", I'm honestly no expert at making my skin dewy or glowy or ~matte-y velvet evening smooth~. I didn't even know the difference (still don't) between matte and velvet! So when I hopped on a plane to the other side of the world to Seoul, where I shoved whatever snacks and food into my face, I was determined to look good too. Or so I hoped.

Anyway if a newbie like me can look half as decent, so can you! MY SALE PITCH ENDS HERE. I thought I'd talk about what I really love so far from my small stash of Korean makeup. Also if you know me in real life, I totally dig SK stuff because it's just way cuter - and everyone looks so nice and young all the time!

Here is a basic round-up of what I consider to be essentially 'Korean' in terms of makeup, and what's popular and floating around for a while now. My research consists of: watching Running Man, Korean dramas, Youtubers and my friends who are way more into this than I am. Thank you all for this.

(BTW: clickable links to the shops that actually ship to the UK! And also where I recently did some serious damage during the Black Friday sale cough cough.)

1. BB CUSHION / FOUNDATION

(These two are more for dry skin)

If you happen to chance upon anyone from SK, watch K-dramas (like I do) you will be awe of how BEAUTIFUL their skin are and go like 'what the hell can I have this piece of heaven on my face too?' Anyway BB Cushions are literally the rage – actually it's been for the last three years now and I'm surprised that more mainstream drugstore brands still don't carry it - and it's basically a BB cream in cushion form!

Before I went to Seoul, my mum had already got me the Laneige Pore Control one and while this was considered to be a more high-end brand, it does the job well - I love how light it feels and it does a good job of lasting my grocery shopping trips.

But if you're looking for a more cost-friendly option, I've included a handy gif of my Innisfree Ampoule Intense Cushion recommended for my dry skin, because I love Innisfree - they are eco-friendly, generally try to use decent ingredients and I love the simple packaging. I think this is half the price of Laneige and does a seriously good job in making your skin glow. LEGIT EVERYONE. I love this during the cold seasons, because its slightly more 'wet' formula makes the skin feel more moisturised and not like I can to rip my face off.

The Innisfree No-Sebum powder also made its way into my basket, and it's basically a finishing compact powder (much like my Hourglass Ambient Lighting one) which is super fine and blends into your skin well to seal the deal. Fuss-free and simple, I like it! They also do a mineral powder version, but I thought that might be too messy for me!

I've also heard other great things about IOPE, HERA and Sulwhasoo (I personally love this one).

2. LIP TINTS AND LIP PRODUCTS (+ SIMPLE MASCARA)

Good golly what is this?! Is this green? Is this broccoli? No way José, it's just TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL's Dinoplatz lip balm tints in Lost in Dinoplatz, which is, yes green! But it comes out as a pale pink on your lips which is great for everyday wear. I'm such a klutz and forgot to do a swatch but I'll leave it to your imagination. I had to hunt this little beast down in three different stores before finding it in Sinsa, I guess the green hype made it super pops!

The other thing is that TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL has terrific packaging, just look at that illustration yo!

Aaand we're back to Innisfree. What did I tell you? Fave brand or what? Here I picked up the Eco flower tint in Rose and the Eco fruit tint in Cherry - SK is big on the sultry gradient lip trend and the perfect way to achieve that is to use a lip tint instead of a lipstick. I lightly dab it onto my lips and use my fingers to blend it out.

Again, simple and very easy to use - great for a beginner for myself so I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to experiment in a less bold lip for a natural one instead ;)

Okay so I mistakenly photograph a mishmash of things here but I'm just going to roll with it. So I mentioned the lip tints from Innisfree but lip tints also come in a more saturated and pigmented version like this banila co Tinted Love Glowin After Pink one (ngl extra encouraged when I saw Ji Hyo as the spokesperson) and it does a great job at putting a punch into my lifeless lips for a night out! It's not sticky either, which I like in my lip products.

The infamous Etude House Play 101 pencils are next, I originally saw these being used on Pony's channel and I was super intrigued by it. Basically they are colored pencils which you can use where ever you like - eyes, cheeks, lips, brows (if you wish)! How cool is that? I chose 11 and 21; one's a peachy ~kiss~ and the other is a deep rose. I knew I wouldn't use much of their more outrageous colours like blue or green so I stuck with these two. Comes with inbuilt sharpener too!

I've been enjoying it on my lips or as a light blush when I'm rushing out, just draw some lines (??!) and smudge it out with either your fingertips or a brush.

Finish off with a fluttery mascara like the Etude House Lash Perm Curl Fix, which true to what it says, does not budge nor come off easily. But I mean, if you're dressing to impress, you might as well right? Since I don't wear mascara that much (they're beyond salvage at this point) I use this for the occasional going out that I do.

PHEW THAT'S IT EVERYONE. I ain't doing no #blogmas so it's just a rant-y post to fill up your feed, because I just wanted to photograph something and show y'all. And that's what I did. Let me know if you've tried any of these and if you'd like to see my more comprehensive version of Korean skincare, which I enjoy way more because I'm more of a skincare kinda gal :)

I'm Cherie and I’m usually friendly, but always strange. I love new adventures - writing about fashion and travel on this little space of mine. 안녕! If you want to chat, drop me a line at: cheriectkoh[at]gmail.com